Insurance Industry

Chronology of Coverage

Jul. 8, 2015

International Monetary Fund warns American stock prices are high and that insurers and mutual funds are prey to financial shocks. MORE

May. 12, 2015

Editorial criticizes Congress for being aware of high potential for abuse of buyers of title insurance but doing nothing about it; observes that both House and Senate bills, favored by Republicans, ignore evidence of kickbacks, like those at center of corruption case against New York State Sen Dean Skelos and his son Adam. MORE

May. 9, 2015

Colleges are increasingly offering loss-of-value insurance as incentive for players to stay for senior year rather than enter NFL draft; insurance is meant to compensate student athletes for lesser contracts they may receive as result of injuries sustained in final year of school, but no player has been known to collect on it. MORE

May. 4, 2015

Op-Ed article by policy expert Jeffrey D Sachs argues that devastating earthquake in Nepal points up need for new global system of insurance for natural disasters; holds international response in such cases usually amounts to desperate patchwork that fails to result in long-term rebuilding effort; outlines system that would provide insurance in open markets with cost-sharing by international agencies like the World Bank. MORE

May. 1, 2015

Chinese regulators move to impose deposit insurance system on country's banks, part of effort to wean financial system off unconditional government support and to transition banks into more market-driven approach; government also plans to remove caps on interest rates; changes are meant to force banks to pay more attention to creditworthiness of borrowers and to assess risk in way similar to that of Western banks. MORE

Apr. 11, 2015

Ron Lieber Your Money column highlights experience of Mike Silverman, Airbnb user who was bitten by host's dog while staying in Argentina, to point out the inadequacy of service's liability coverage; notes that company resists inquiries into how often such accidents happen, but expresses hope that company will not compel victims of accidents to fight to be reimbursed and compensated. MORE

Mar. 12, 2015

Longevity insurance policies, or deferred-income annuities, can ease fears of outliving one's nest egg, but contracts can be costly and complicated; online tools exist to aid in decision. MORE

Jan. 19, 2015

Growing popularity of online insurance portals is threatening livelihood of traditional insurance agents, who collect 10 percent commission on policyholders' payments; services, which often present side-by-side comparison of policies, are still a nascent industry, but Silicon Valley insiders say they could soon upend the 40,000 insurance agencies throughout the United States. MORE

Jan. 9, 2015

Senate gives final approval to revamped federal backstop to terrorism insurance, just eight days after lawmakers allowed it to lapse; Democrats, in order to win passage, are forced to assent to easing regulations on financial instruments known as derivatives; bill's passage offers glimpse into how Republicans will try to do battle against Pres Obama's agenda over next two years. MORE

Dec. 18, 2014

Terrorism Risk Assurance Act, which required insurers to provide federally guaranteed financial protection from terrorist attacks, will lapse on Jan 1, 2015; analysts fear major market disruption, even if effects are not instantaneous. MORE

Dec. 17, 2014

Senate rejects Terrorism Risk Insurance Act after Sen Tom Coburn refuses to drop his opposition to extraneous measure that had been added at last minute by House Republicans; act, if passed, would have extended federal terrorism insurance for six more years, raising damage threshold from $100 million to $200 million. MORE

Dec. 6, 2014

Ron Lieber Your Money column explores limitations of Airbnb's free $1 million liability coverage; notes coverage is secondary, meaning company wants its users to push any claims for guests' injuries and deaths through their own insurance companies first; observes most homeowner's and renter's insurance policies do not cover regular commercial activity in the home. MORE

Dec. 5, 2014

House and Senate negotiators all but reach agreement to extent federal terrorism insurance for six years; deal would be victory for developers in Lower Manhattan and other areas that insurers see as targets of potentially catastrophic attacks. MORE

Oct. 22, 2014

Eduardo Porter Economic Scene column; damages wrought by increasingly disruptive weather patterns have climbed around the world, and as result the insurance industry seems to have quietly engaged in what looks a lot like a retreat; Swiss Re reports in 2013 that less than third of $116 billion in worldwide losses from weather-related disasters were covered by insurance. MORE

Aug. 30, 2014

Ann Carrns Your Money Adviser column notes many homeowners, jarred by earthquake in Napa County, Calif, are wondering whether they should buy special earthquake insurance, which is generally not covered by homeowner's policies; cites questions to consider when buying earthquake protection. MORE

Jul. 22, 2014

Malaysia Airlines has suffered two crashes in less than five months, sending tremors through aviation insurance market; carrier's $2.25 billion overall liability policy is mysteriously missing a standard phrase in its text that usually limits insurers' payments for search-and-rescue costs; looming payments are coming as underwriters face other claims. MORE

Jul. 18, 2014

Senate overwhelmingly approves seven-year extension of the federal insurance program first approved after attacks of Sept 11, 2001, when developers suddenly found their projects uninsurable. MORE

Jul. 16, 2014

House Republicans' efforts to pare federal terrorism insurance have caused some Republicans from metropolitan areas to join many Democrats in opposing move; program was created to help businesses rebuild after attacks of Sept 11, 2001. MORE

Jul. 13, 2014

More couples are adding wedding insurance to their budget, and while most couples will never use it, disasters do happen. MORE

Jun. 9, 2014

More businesses are buying specialized cyberattack insurance policies, as data breaches have become reality of business world; demand increased 21 percent in 2013 over 2012; losses are difficult to quantify because attackers are constantly getting more advanced. MORE

May. 25, 2014

The Upshot; Robert J Shiller Economic View column argues that insurance will play an essential role as effects of climate change worsen, helping to share burden of devastation that is concentrated in coastal and other specific areas; holds that private insurance companies will require government support and significant incentives in order to take on such grand-scale issues. MORE

May. 23, 2014

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column criticizes efforts by lobbyists and legislators to prevent Financial Stability Oversight Council from studying and potentially regulating asset management and insurance industries; cites House Financial Services Committee hearing on the 'dangers' of financial regulation; argues that pushback represents a dangerous amnesia about the roots of the financial crisis. MORE

Jan. 31, 2014

Senate passes a bill to delay sharp increases in federal flood insurance rates for millions of property owners in coastal and flood-prone areas. MORE

Jan. 29, 2014

Major flood insurance bill passed by Congress in 2012 is now facing enthusiastic bipartisan effort to gut it; measure supported by conservatives and environmentalists may fall victim to unintended consequences and is a warning, some say, of rising costs of climate change. MORE

Dec. 15, 2013

Lisa Prevost Mortgages column examines new insurance products that offer protection for borrowers should home values dive steeply; notes products are meant to capitalize on lingering anxieties following subprrime mortgage crisis; graph of mortgage rates in the New York region. MORE

Dec. 12, 2013

The wide-ranging recommendations on how to strengthen regulation still leave broad areas of the $7 trillion industry under state oversight. MORE

Dec. 7, 2013

More than 30,000 residents of New York and New Jersey remain displaced from their homes after Hurricane Sandy, mired in bureaucratic and financial limbo; analysis reveals that less than half of people who sought aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency have received it, and in many cases flood insurance covered only fraction of losses. MORE

Nov. 30, 2013

Paul Sullivan Wealth Matters column examines so-called key-man insurance, which provides payout so that a business can continue after its founder or operator dies; notes that some executives decide to extract value from the policies while still alive. MORE

Oct. 26, 2013

Number of properties in New York City that will be required to have federal flood insurance will nearly double in 2015, to about 32,000, under updated maps from Federal Emergency Management Agency; accompanying higher premiums may mean that many city residents will have to relocate. MORE

Oct. 13, 2013

Sharp increases in federal flood insurance rates are distressing coastal homeowners from Hawaii to New England and are starting to hurt property values and housing sales in areas just beginning to recover from recession. MORE

Oct. 7, 2013

A New York regulator used an admission of wrongdoing to the S.E.C. by the billionaire Philip A. Falcone to punish him in an unrelated case. MORE

Sep. 1, 2013

Maggie Koerth-Baker Eureka column notes the reinsurance industry, which sells insurance to insurers, is adopting new statistical risk models that take into account climate change. MORE

Jul. 29, 2013

Changes in the federal flood insurance program over past year, along with impact of Hurricane Sandy, are driving up insurance rates in New York region, costing some homeowners thousands of dollars more each year; Mayor Michael R Bloomberg is proposing changes to make flood insurance more affordable and accessible. MORE

Jul. 8, 2013

States considering laws that allow teachers or administrators to carry guns in schools are encountering a daunting economic hurdle of insurance carriers threatening to raise premiums or revoke coverage entirely; insurers worry about who could be sued if a gun-related accident occurs on school property. MORE

Jun. 27, 2013

Financial Accounting Standards Board will propose new rules for insurance accounting that will expand number of companies that are considered insurers; regulations seem likely to increase volatility in reported profits for many insurers and lower reported revenue for rapidly growing companies. MORE

May. 15, 2013

Eduardo Porter Economic Scene column on how insurance industry sees their future amid concerns of climate change; says companies' analysis of risks it faces is evolving; Heartland Institute, financed by insurance industry, not only believes in global warming, but supports carbon tax to combat it. MORE

May. 11, 2013

Tara Siegel Bernard Your Money column on new law that will assuredly cause flood insurance premiums to skyrocket, while requiring stricter, more expensive, rebuilding standards; legislation happened to coincide with arrival of Hurricane Sandy, leaving devastated communities and families to make difficult financial calculations and decisions. MORE

Apr. 16, 2013

Elizabeth A Harris The Appraisal column on decision by many homeowners, required by law in some waterfront areas hard hit by Hurricane Sandy, to elevate houses; in coming years, tens of thousands of homeowners in the New York metropolitan area can expect to choose between elevating their homes or paying higher insurance rates to keep them low. MORE

Apr. 14, 2013

Lisa Prevost Mortgages column; New York State investigation and resulting settlement could rein in outsize premiums for force- or lender-placed insurance that is often imposed on borrowers who allow their homeowners' insurance to lapse. MORE

Mar. 27, 2013

Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, proposes new rule that would prohibit insurance companies from paying sales commissions for so-called force-placed insurance to lenders or mortgage services. MORE

Mar. 17, 2013

Lisa Prevost Mortgages column observes that borrowers typically neglect to factor in high cost of title insurance required by their mortgage lenders and often allow lenders to select title agent for them; advises choosing independent title company. MORE

Mar. 8, 2013

Floyd Norris High & Low Finance column examines case in which New York State Supreme Court has blocked suit brought by group of banks against MBIA, accusing insurance company of making inaccurate regulatory filings before it split up into two separate entities in 2009; holds that while there is little sympathy for banks that promoted structured financial products, decision sets dangerous precedent for the insurance industry. MORE

Feb. 22, 2013

Lawmakers in at least six states have proposed legislation requiring gun owners to buy liability insurance; they hope to reward safe behavior with lower rates for people with safety locks or less dangerous weapons; groups representing gun owners oppose efforts to make insurance mandatory on Second Amendment grounds, but some groups, including the National Rifle Assn, endorse voluntary liability policies for their members; both sides see a bigger role for the insurance industry. MORE

Feb. 15, 2013

Knee injury to Kentucky men's basketball center Nerlens Noel, freshman projected by many analysts to be NBA's top pick in 2013, renews debate over NCAA's limitations on college athletes insuring themselves. MORE

Nov. 30, 2012

Mayor Michael R Bloomberg unveils two tax initiatives intended to give owners of severely damaged properties some financial breathing room as they struggle to recover from Hurricane Sandy; Gov Andrew M Cuomo also announces an emergency regulation shortening the period in which an insurance adjuster must inspect a claim, hoping to offer relief for those with repair concerns in the wake of the storm. MORE

Nov. 25, 2012

Op-Ed article by Wharton School teachers Erwann Michel-Kerjan and Howard Kunreuther highlights fact that many Americans do not purchase insurance for severe weather events, despite fact that such events, like Hurricane Sandy, are occurring more frequently; offers suggestions for creating more coherent strategy that will encourage personal responsibility and proper protection. MORE

Nov. 18, 2012

Ginia Bellafante Big City column discusses obstacles to rebuilding homes in New York City's outer boroughs, damaged by Hurricane Sandy, in such a way that they can better withstand future strong storms; observes that specifics of insurance policies, neighborhood density and zoning impede changes that would avoid repetition of destruction. MORE

Nov. 13, 2012

Federal government’s flood insurance program is once again at risk of running out of money as daunting reconstruction from Hurricane Sandy gets under way; costs from paying out claims could reach $7 billion at a time when program is allowed, by law, to add only $3 billion to its onerous debt; critics say taxpayer money should not be used to bail program out again--essentially subsidizing rebuilding of homes in risky areas--without Congress mandating more radical changes. MORE

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Those who are expected to enroll in the new individual health exchanges tend to have less education than the currently insured population, according to projections by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute. They are also far more likely to be unmarried.

Life insurers’ use of complex private deals to shift obligations from their balance sheets to affiliated companies, especially special-purpose entities called captives, has nearly doubled over the last five years.